Experiential Therapy: What Does Art Therapy Look Like & How Does it Work Online?
I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way
- things I had no words for. - Georgia O'Keeffe
When you were young and first learning to navigate the world, the adults in your life most likely repeated a certain phrase to you: “Use your words, use your words.” They wanted to encourage you to formulate your thoughts into statements, to use your voice, and to advocate for yourself through the spoken language. However, in the years that have passed since learning to speak, you may have realized that your voice can often fail you when you need it most - you just can’t “use your words” to explain your emotional experience.
Communicating without Words
Your individual reality may represent a wide range of emotions that cannot be verbalized. Do you ever feel your body shaking with anxious energy and it feels unexplainable? Or a pit in your stomach that you just can’t shake or speak on? Maybe you’ve shed confused tears during a joyous moment that found you speechless.
Art therapy is a form of expressive therapy that can expand your ability to communicate and express yourself on your journey towards self-awareness and self-acceptance. A simple image or symbol may represent your internal world much more effectively than a verbalized monologue. The combination of lines, shapes, and colors have the ability to reflect something that you may not even understand yet. The artistic process itself has the innate ability to heal as you work through it. Drawing a singular, strong line across the canvas can become a meditative practice, allowing you to strengthen your focus. Using watercolors can support you in letting go and practicing going with the flow. Multimedia projects encourage the integration of different art materials and by extension, different aspects of identity. Wrestling with clay can help with the expulsion of frustration and other heightened energy from the body.
Virtual Art Therapy
As an art therapist, I am trained to accompany you on this journey and support you as you explore art materials and the art-making process. We do this whilst managing symptoms of various mental health issues, as well as life changes, interpersonal relationships, and everyday challenges. Although art therapy is traditionally conducted in a shared physical space such as an art studio, the safe therapeutic environment can be extended to virtual therapy as well. It may look different, but virtual art therapy can offer the same benefits as in-person art therapy, as well as additional benefits that are unique to the digital setting.
Although clients are welcome to utilize traditional materials and objects that are available to them, virtual art therapy sessions also offer the opportunity to create artwork digitally. This allows a different kind of creative freedom and artistic exploration. On a digital canvas, artists can duplicate imagery, erase marks, and switch between different mark-making tools with ease, therefore supporting growing understanding and awareness of the self. Working on a shared screen can allow the therapist to provide support throughout the process and strengthen the therapeutic bond between therapist and client.
What Does an Online Art Therapy Session Look Like?
When we begin our therapeutic journey together, I will meet you where you are (emotionally, mentally) and get to know you.
Working from a client-centered approach, I will help you identify goals that are a priority for you to address and work towards.
At the beginning of each session, you will be invited to check in with your mind and body through a directive that may focus on a symbol, image, or color that represents your current state.
I will then offer appropriate interventions or art-making techniques that I feel will be supportive of your goals. You may use any art material that is calling to you during our session, or I may suggest art materials that address your specific needs at that time.
The artistic and therapeutic process will evolve throughout sessions in order to meet your growth and healing.
Scheduling Your First Session
If you are ready to begin your journey towards self-acceptance through the process of art therapy, contact us to schedule a consultation for experiential therapy.